Management of the Parthenium hysterophorus through biochar formation and its application to rice-wheat cultivation in Pakistan
Abstract
This study presents a suitable solution for management of the noxious weed Parthenium hysterophorus by using its biomass for biochar formation. The impact of application of Parthenium biochar on soil and the rice wheat cultivation system was observed over a period of one year in field experiments. The treatments applied to the field were biochar (BC) only, recommended commercial fertilizer (CF) only, BC along with 50% of CF (BC+CF), and Control, without any treatment. The growth parameters of the plants were measured in the rice and wheat crops. Commercial fertilizer showed the best agronomic performance in rice and wheat, while similar results were obtained in the BC+CF application. However, the results were not so significant with BC only. It was observed that biochar application can cut down the cost of fertilizer to half although the yield obtained is just as good as with full application of CF.Biochar acted as a conditioner in field soil and improved the C/N ratio. Structure of soil as well as the water and nutrient holding capacity of soil was improved owing to macroporous nature of biochar revealed by SEM. However, applied biochar was not found very stable as the C content applied to the soil in the form of biochar decreased in the soil over a one-year period from 47.39% to 36.54%. This could be due to some original plant residues left in the biochar on account of incomplete pyrolysis in the partial absence of oxygen indicating a high H/C ratio of 0.64. This research suggests application of Parthenium biochar at lower rates annually not only providing fresh C content and charged surfaces to the soil but also a substrate and C source to the microbes inhabiting the macropores and mesopores present in biochar as indicated by SEM. The char formed from Parthenium biomass was environmentally sustainable by utilizing renewable supply of biogas in a fabricated hybrid cooking stove.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Application of biochar prepared from a weed (Parthenium hysterophorus L.) at 370-417°C to a rice-wheat cropping system could cut down the cost of fertilizer to half although the yield obtained was just as good as with full application of recommended dose of fertilizers.
“Recently, Ain et al. (2016) reported that application of biochar prepared from a weed ( Parthenium hysterophorus L.) at 370- 417 o C temperature to a rice-wheat cropping system could cut down the cost of fertilizer to half although the yield obtained was just as good as with full application of recommended dose of fertilizers.”
From A review on biochar modulated soil condition improvements and nutrient dynamics concerning crop yields: Pathways to climate change mitigation and global food security (2019) · cites this paper as Ain et al., 2016
Cites
Diagnosis and Improvement of Saline and Alkali Soils
Richards, L. A. (1954) · Soil Science · doi:10.1097/00010694-195408000-00012 · Cited by 9,426 · see citing works
Characteristics of hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin pyrolysis
Yang, H., Yan, R., Chen, H., Lee, D. H., & Zheng, C. (2007) · Fuel · doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2006.12.013 · Cited by 8,155 · see citing works
Bio-char Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems – A Review
Lehmann, J., Gaunt, J., & Rondon, M. (2006) · Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change · doi:10.1007/s11027-005-9006-5 · Cited by 3,053 · see citing works
Biochar for environmental management: science and technology
(2009) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.47-0296 · Cited by 2,947 · see citing works
Walkley, A. (1947) · Soil Science · doi:10.1097/00010694-194704000-00001 · Cited by 2,586 · see citing works
Watanabe, F. S., & Olsen, S. R. (1965) · Soil Science Society of America Journal · doi:10.2136/sssaj1965.03615995002900060025x · Cited by 2,485 · see citing works
Jeffery, S., Verheijen, F. G. A., van der Velde, M., & Bastos, A. C. (2011) · Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment · doi:10.1016/j.agee.2011.08.015 · Cited by 2,422 · see citing works
Biochar for Environmental Management: Science and Technology
Lehmann, J., & Joseph, S. (2009) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781849770552 · Cited by 2,324 · see citing works
Black Carbon Increases Cation Exchange Capacity in Soils
Liang, B., Lehmann, J., Solomon, D., Kinyangi, J., Grossman, J., O'Neill, B., Skjemstad, J. O., Thies, J., Luizão, F. J., Petersen, J., et al. (2006) · Soil Science Society of America Journal · doi:10.2136/sssaj2005.0383 · Cited by 2,191 · see citing works
The forms of alkalis in the biochar produced from crop residues at different temperatures
Yuan, J.-H., Xu, R.-K., & Zhang, H. (2011) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2010.11.018 · Cited by 2,029 · see citing works
Agronomic values of greenwaste biochar as a soil amendment
Chan, K. Y., Van Zwieten, L., Meszaros, I., Downie, A., & Joseph, S. (2007) · Soil Research · doi:10.1071/sr07109 · Cited by 1,902 · see citing works
Chen, B., Zhou, D., & Zhu, L. (2008) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es8002684 · Cited by 1,823 · see citing works
Lehmann, J. (2007) · Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment · doi:10.1890/1540-9295(2007)5[381:bitb]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 1,714 · see citing works
Novel weapons: invasive success and the evolution of increased competitive ability
Callaway, R. M., & Ridenour, W. M. (2004) · Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment · doi:10.1890/1540-9295(2004)002[0436:nwisat]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 1,589 · see citing works
Steiner, C., Teixeira, W., Lehmann, J., Nehls, T., de Macedo, J. L. V., Blum, W., & Zech, W. (2007) · Plant and Soil · doi:10.1007/s11104-007-9193-9 · Cited by 1,402 · see citing works
Impact of Biochar Amendment on Fertility of a Southeastern Coastal Plain Soil
Novak, J. M., Busscher, W. J., Laird, D. L., Ahmedna, M., Watts, D. W., & Niandou, M. A. S. (2009) · Soil Science · doi:10.1097/ss.0b013e3181981d9a · Cited by 1,291 · see citing works
Abiotic and microbial oxidation of laboratory-produced black carbon (biochar)
Zimmerman, A. R. (2010) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es903140c · Cited by 1,103 · see citing works
Characterization of chars from pyrolysis of lignin
Sharma, R. K., Wooten, J. B., Baliga, V. L., Lin, X., Chan, W. G., & Hajaligol, M. R. (2004) · Fuel · doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2003.11.015 · Cited by 950 · see citing works
Heterogeneity of biochar properties as a function of feedstock sources and production temperatures
Zhao, L., Cao, X., Mašek, O., & Zimmerman, A. (2013) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2013.04.015 · Cited by 933 · see citing works
Rajkovich, S., Enders, A., Hanley, K., Hyland, C., Zimmerman, A. R., & Lehmann, J. (2012) · Biology and Fertility of Soils · doi:10.1007/s00374-011-0624-7 · Cited by 872 · see citing works
Chemical composition and bioavailability of thermally altered Pinus resinosa (Red pine) wood
Baldock, J., & Smernik, R. J. (2002) · Organic Geochemistry · doi:10.1016/s0146-6380(02)00062-1 · Cited by 870 · see citing works
Zhang, A., Cui, L., Pan, G., Li, L., Hussain, Q., Zhang, X., Zheng, J., & Crowley, D. E. (2010) · Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment · doi:10.1016/j.agee.2010.09.003 · Cited by 854 · see citing works
New directions in black carbon organic geochemistry
Masiello, C. A. (2004) · Marine Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2004.06.043 · Cited by 835 · see citing works
Diagnosis and Improvement of Saline and Alkaline Soils
McGeorge, W. T. (1954) · Soil Science Society of America Journal · doi:10.2136/sssaj1954.03615995001800030032x · Cited by 743 · see citing works
Main routes for the thermo-conversion of biomass into fuels and chemicals. Part 1: Pyrolysis systems
Balat, M., Balat, M., Kırtay, E., & Balat, H. (2009) · Energy Conversion and Management · doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2009.08.014 · Cited by 738 · see citing works
Yamato, M., Okimori, Y., Wibowo, I. F., Anshori, S., & Ogawa, M. (2006) · Soil Science and Plant Nutrition · doi:10.1111/j.1747-0765.2006.00065.x · Cited by 634 · see citing works
How extensive are yield declines in long-term rice–wheat experiments in Asia?
Ladha, J. K., Dawe, D., Pathak, H. K., Padre, A. T., Yadav, R. L., Sıngh, B., Singh, Y., Singh, Y., Singh, P., Kundu, A., et al. (2003) · Field Crops Research · doi:10.1016/s0378-4290(02)00219-8 · Cited by 620 · see citing works
Characteristics of Biochar: Biological Properties
Thies, J., & Rillig, M. (2012) · doi:10.4324/9781849770552-13 · Cited by 573 · see citing works
FT-IR study for hydroxyapatite/collagen nanocomposite cross-linked by glutaraldehyde
Chang, M. C., & Tanaka, J. (2002) · Biomaterials · doi:10.1016/s0142-9612(02)00232-6 · Cited by 560 · see citing works
Robinson, S., & Robinson, A. H. (1954) · Physiological Reviews · doi:10.1152/physrev.1954.34.2.202 · Cited by 514 · see citing works
Characterization of Biochars Produced from Cornstovers for Soil Amendment
Lee, J. W., Kidder, M. K., Evans, B. R., Paik, S., Buchanan, A. C., Garten, C. T., & Brown, R. C. (2010) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es101337x · Cited by 474 · see citing works
Harvey, O. R., Kuo, L.-J., Zimmerman, A. R., Louchouarn, P., Amonette, J. E., & Herbert, B. E. (2012) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es2040398 · Cited by 429 · see citing works
Taxa-specific changes in soil microbial community composition induced by pyrogenic carbon amendments
Khodadad, C. L. M., Zimmerman, A. R., Green, S. J., Uthandi, S., & Foster, J. S. (2010) · Soil Biology and Biochemistry · doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2010.11.005 · Cited by 419 · see citing works
The Interfacial Behavior between Biochar and Soil Minerals and Its Effect on Biochar Stability
Yang, F., Zhao, L., Gao, B., Xu, X., & Cao, X. (2016) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b03656 · Cited by 398 · see citing works
Influence of production conditions on the yield and environmental stability of biochar
Mašek, O., Brownsort, P. A., Cross, A., & Sohi, S. (2011) · Fuel · doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2011.08.044 · Cited by 387 · see citing works
Kuppusamy, S., Thavamani, P., Megharaj, M., Venkateswarlu, K., & Naidu, R. (2016) · Environment International · doi:10.1016/j.envint.2015.10.018 · Cited by 383 · see citing works
Kohli, R., Batish, D., Singh, H. P., & Dogra, K. (2006) · Biological Invasions · doi:10.1007/s10530-005-5842-1 · Cited by 363 · see citing works
Production and characterization of synthetic wood chars for use as surrogates for natural sorbents
Brown, R. A., Kercher, A. K., Nguyen, T. H., Nagle, D. C., & Ball, W. P. (2006) · Organic Geochemistry · doi:10.1016/j.orggeochem.2005.10.008 · Cited by 343 · see citing works
Biochar from water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes) and its impact on soil biological activity
Masto, R. E., Kumar, S., Rout, T. K., Sarkar, P., George, J., & Ram, L. C. (2013) · CATENA · doi:10.1016/j.catena.2013.06.025 · Cited by 294 · see citing works
Statistical procedures for agricultural research with emphasis on rice.
Gomez, K. A., & Gómez, A. A. (1976) · International Rice Research Institute eBooks · Cited by 258 · see citing works
Soil fertility management for sustainable agriculture
(1998) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.35-3839 · Cited by 254 · see citing works
The biology of Australian weeds. 27. Parthenium hysterophorus L.
Navie, S. C., McFadyen, R., Panetta, F. D., & Adkins, S. W. (1996) · Plant protection quarterly · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Microbial Technologies in Advanced Biofuels Production
Hallenbeck, P. C. (2011) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-1208-3 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Biochar preparation from Parthenium hysterophorus and its potential use in soil application
Kumar, S., Masto, R. E., Ram, L. C., Sarkar, P., George, J., & Selvi, V. A. (2013) · Ecological Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2013.02.011 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Rovira, P., Besson, C. K., Coûteaux, M., & Vallejo, V. R. (2007) · Soil Biology and Biochemistry · doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2007.07.021 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
How extensive are yield declines in long-term rice-wheat experiments in Asia? Field Crops Res
Jk, L., Ladha, J. K., Yadvinder, S., Dawe, D., Pathak, H. K., At, P., Tirol‐Padre, A., Rl, Y., Yadav, R. L., Singh, B., et al. (2003) · Cited by 133 · see citing works
Bornemann, L., Kookana, R. S., & Welp, G. (2006) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2006.10.052 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Slash-and-char: a feasible alternative for soil fertility management in the Central Amazon?
Lehmann, J. C., da Silva, J. P., Rondón, M., Cravo, M. D. S., Greenwood, J. P., Nehls, T., Steiner, C., & Glaser, B. (2002) · Cited by 131 · see citing works
Sui, Y., Gao, J., Liu, C., Zhang, W., Lan, Y., Li, S., Meng, J., Xu, Z., & Tang, L. (2015) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.11.079 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Arriagada, R., García, R. A., Molina‐Sabio, M., & Rodríguez-Reinoso, F. (1997) · Microporous Materials · doi:10.1016/s0927-6513(96)00078-8 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Blackwell, P. S., Riethmuller, G. P., & Collins, M. (2012) · doi:10.4324/9781849770552-19 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Sigua, G. C., Novak, J. M., Watts, D. W., Johnson, M. G., & Spokas, K. A. (2015) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.06.015 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Origins and functions of macroporosity in activated carbons from coal and wood precursors
Wildman, J., & Derbyshire, F. J. (1991) · Fuel · doi:10.1016/0016-2361(91)90181-9 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Using Biochar as a Soil Amendment for Sustainable Agriculture
Zheng, W., Sharma, B., & Rajagopalan, N. (2010) · Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Chromosome Numbers in Compositae from Pakistan
Razaq, Z. A., Vahidy, A. A., & Ali, S. I. (1994) · Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden · doi:10.2307/2399925 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Parthenium as an additive with cattle manure in biogas production
Gunaseelan, V. N. (1987) · Biological Wastes · doi:10.1016/0269-7483(87)90125-x · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Utility Potential of Parthenium hysterophorus for Its Strategic Management
Saini, A., Aggarwal, N. K., Sharma, A., Kaur, M., & Yadav, A. (2014) · Advances in Agriculture · doi:10.1155/2014/381859 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Khaket, T. P., Singh, M., Dhanda, S., Singh, T., & Singh, J. (2012) · Bioresource Technology · doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2012.07.107 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
INVASION OF NOXIOUS ALIEN WEED PARTHENIUM HYSTEROPHORUS L. IN GRAZING LANDS OF LAHORE, PAKISTAN
Javaid, A., & Shafique, S. (2009) · The Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences · Cited by 22 · see citing works
UTILIZATION OF WEED BIOMASS AS AN ORGANIC SOURCE IN SORGHUM
Channappagoudar, B. B., & Biradar, N. R. (2007) · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Advanced Bioethanol Production
Ghosh, D., & Hallenbeck, P. C. (2011) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-1208-3_10 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
3 of the 64 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Purakayastha, T. J., Bera, T., Bhaduri, D., Sarkar, B., Mandal, S., Wade, P., Kumari, S., Biswas, S., Menon, M., Pathak, H., et al. (2019) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.03.170 · Cited by 379 · see citing works
Effects of acidic and neutral biochars on properties and cadmium retention of soils
Qi, F., Dong, Z., Lamb, D., Naidu, R., Bolan, N. S., Ok, Y. S., Liu, C., Khan, N., Johir, M. A. H., & Semple, K. T. (2017) · Chemosphere · doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2017.04.014 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Can biochar reclaim coal mine spoil?
Ghosh, D., & Maiti, S. K. (2020) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111097 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Effect of different temperatures on the properties of pyrolysis products of Parthenium hysterophorus
Qurat-ul-Ain, Shafiq, M., Capareda, S. C., & Firdaus-e-Bareen (2021) · Journal of Saudi Chemical Society · doi:10.1016/j.jscs.2021.101197 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
“The class of chemicals known as sesquiterpene lactones like parthe-nin or ambrosin are lost during biochar formation at 300 (cid:1) C from feedstock of Pathenium hysterophorus having a high amount of such chemicals [7].”
Self-citationKaur, L. P., Malhi, D. S., Cooper, R., Kaur, M., Sohal, H. S., Mutreja, V., & Sharma, A. (2021) · Journal of Ethnopharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.jep.2021.114525 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Nguyen, D. T. C., Le, H. T. N., Nguyen, T. T., Nguyen, T. T. T., Liew, R. K., Bạch, L. G., Nguyen, T. D., Vo, D. N., & Tran, T. V. (2021) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.149195 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Unlocking the Potential of Agrifood Waste for Sustainable Innovation in Agriculture
Voss, M., Valle, C., Gaudino, E. C., Tabasso, S., Forte, C., & Cravotto, G. (2024) · Recycling · doi:10.3390/recycling9020025 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Ahmad, S., Sehrish, A. K., Alomrani, S. O., Zhang, L., Waseem, M., Noureen, S., Ullah, I., Tabassam, R., Abbas, G., & Ali, S. (2024) · Plant Stress · doi:10.1016/j.stress.2024.100348 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Rai, P. K., Lee, S. S., Bhardwaj, N., & Kim, K. (2023) · South African Journal of Botany · doi:10.1016/j.sajb.2023.09.038 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Weed as Underutilized Bio-resource and Management Tool: A Comprehensive Review
Sharma, V., & Pant, S. (2018) · Waste and Biomass Valorization · doi:10.1007/s12649-018-0212-2 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Kumar, S., Masto, R. E., & Kaushik, G. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental & Analytical Chemistry · doi:10.1080/03067319.2021.1958324 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Ain, Q.-U., Shafiq, M. R., Nazir, A., & Bareen, F.-E. (2022) · Journal of Plant Nutrition · doi:10.1080/01904167.2022.2155555 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationParthenium hysterophorus: Weed to Value
Ratnaparkhe, S. M., & Ratnaparkhe, M. B. (2021) · Energy, environment, and sustainability · doi:10.1007/978-981-33-6552-0_4 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
The Potential Utility of Terrestrial Weed Biomass in Bioenergy Production
Pawaiya, A., Chaudhary, M., & Suthar, S. (2025) · Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation/Advances in science, technology & innovation · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-85685-3_14 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Biochar Production and Characteristics
Soni, M., Kanani, K., Singh, S., Shukla, N., & Dwivedi, K. (2026) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-16746-0_1 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Ahmad, S., Sehrish, A. K., Zhang, L., Waseem, M., Ullah, I., Tabassam, R., & Ali, S. (2023) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4583821
Role of Biochar Technology in Carbon Sequestration and Agro-Environmental Sustainability
Tripathi, A., Dubey, P. K., Upadhyay, M. K., & Bose, P. (2024) · Sustainable plant nutrition in a changing world · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-53590-1_12
Kumar, A., Majumder, S., Dhouni, M., Singh, K. R., Goswami, R. P., Singh, S. K., Singh, A. N., & Kumar, R. (2026) · Separation and Purification Technology · doi:10.1016/j.seppur.2026.139358
Saha, B., Tantayotai, P., Yasurin, P., Chantarasiri, A., & Sriariyanun, M. (2026) · Biofuels · doi:10.1080/17597269.2026.2721189
- Authors
- Qurat-ul-Ain, Firdaus-e-Bareen, & Shafiq, M.
- Affiliations
- University of the Punjab (PK)
- ORCID
- Shafiq, Muhammad
- Venue
- Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-11
- Volume
- 235
- Pages
- 265-276
- ISSN
- 0167-8809 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2551002838
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 1.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Government College University, Lahore
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Soil Science › Agricultural Science and Fertilization
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Processes
- Keywords
- Parthenium hysterophorus, weed biomass, biochar, rice-wheat cropping system, soil amendment, fertilizer substitution, soil C:N ratio, biochar stability, pyrolysis, weed control
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
